Phillies owner gets painfully honest on disappointing playoffs exit
The Philadelphia Phillies suffered a crushing playoff exit at the hands of the New York Mets in the NLDS, and club owner John Middleton wasn't pleased. However, there were telltale signs of the Phillies' issues weeks before that series.
Middleton noticed Philadelphia's undisciplined hitting in the second half of the regular season, via The Athletic's Matt Gelb.
"I don't think you can forget the postseason. I don't think you can forget the last couple of months of marginal play. It was more like three months of marginal play," Middleton said. "There were some peaks and valleys in that second half. But we really didn't play consistently well for quite a long sustained period."
After starting 55-29 through the end of June, the team sputtered to a 40-38 record to finish the regular season before losing to the Mets in four games in the NLDS.
"Some of that is we have guys who just chase too much. And they have to stop," Middleton continued. "They just have to become more disciplined. It's not enough to say, Well, look, this is just the way that person is.' The person has to change. The other thing is, it's not enough to say, "Well, that's baseball." That's just an excuse for not having to really think about what went right, what went wrong, and what you can do to right the wrongs."
The data backs up Middleton's narrative. Philadelphia's best month was in May, when it went 20-7 and slashed .259/.337/.413. In July, though, it went 10-14 and slashed .241/.308/.417.
What can the Phillies do to hit more consistently next season?
Phillies must be open to mechanical changes
Philadelphia's roster is stacked with established stars like Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, but championships aren't won on paper. Sometimes, even the game's best players must re-work their hitting mechanics.
Middleton continued ranting about his hatred for chalking up underperformance to "that's baseball."
"I was talking to [Phillies' president of baseball operations] Dave [Dombrowski] about it. I said, 'Dave, I hate this expression.' He goes, 'I hate that expression more than any other expression in baseball.'" Dombrowski replied. "Because it allows you to think anything you want to think. Oh, we didn't do well? That's baseball. I'm 1-for-20? Well, that's baseball."
"We need to learn from (the NLDS loss to the New York Mets). I think some old dogs need to learn new tricks. I know by the time you get to the majors, and particularly by the time you're a veteran, you've got a style. It's yours."
However, some of Philadelphia's "old dogs" might leave town. Veteran outfielder Nick Castellanos could be traded away , for example, via USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
Regardless of roster turnover, though, the organization won't accept anything less than a championship moving forward.
